A hole in one is the golfing equivalent of winning the lottery.
asserted
hole → win → lottery
Most weekend hackers spend a lifetime chasing one, only to finish their careers without ever experiencing that magical moment when a ball disappears into the cup.
asserted
ball → spend → cup
To achieve both in a lifetime is remarkable.
asserted
achieve → achieve → lifetime
To pull them off on consecutive holes is nothing short of absurd.
asserted
pull → pull → holes
That is precisely what Sydney golfer Kris Clelland managed at Lynwood Golf and Country Club on Saturday, producing a sequence of shots on the 16th and 17th holes so improbable that even the Scotsman, who works in artificial intelligence, struggled to find another example in golf’s centuries-long history.
The odds of an average golfer making a hole in one are estimated at 12,500 to one, while an albatross is considered roughly 500 times rarer at six million to one.
asserted
albatross → manage → one
Combining those figures produces astronomical odds.
asserted
Combining → combine → odds
“We looked up the stats and I think it’s about one-in-72-billion chance for that to happen on back-to-back holes,” Clelland said.
asserted
Clelland → look → holes
Clelland was having a “bang average” round by his lofty standards.
asserted
Clelland → have → standards
He had previously made an albatross on the par-five 16th at Moore Park, as well as two holes in one, before Saturday’s heroics.
asserted
He → make → heroics
Originally from Ayr in Scotland, near Royal Troon, Clelland took up golf at the age of two and has spent the past 13 years in Australia.
asserted
Clelland → take → Australia
He plays off an impressive handicap of plus-five, putting him comfortably among the country’s better amateur golfers.
asserted
He → play → golfers
After carding a one-under-par 34 on the front nine, Clelland made back-to-back bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes at the course in Pitt Town, in Sydney’s north-west.
asserted
Clelland → card → west
With the wind at his back on the par-five 16th, Clelland launched a driver down the fairway, leaving himself about 228 metres to the flag.
asserted
Clelland → launch → flag
His four-iron sailed straight towards the pin, but one of his playing partners thought it might have gone over the back of the green.
uncertain
it → sail → green
When the ball was nowhere to be found, Clelland checked the hole and discovered he had achieved golf’s rarest feat: a two on a par five.
asserted
he → find → par
“I just started laughing,” Clelland said.
asserted
Clelland → start → ?
“The rest of the guys came onto the green and congratulated me.”
asserted
rest → come → me
As Clelland teed up his ball on the par-three 17th, preparing to hit a five-iron into a fierce headwind on the 175-metre hole, he turned to his playing partners.
asserted
he → tee → partners
“This could probably go in,” he joked.
uncertain
he → go → ?
Clelland’s ball landed about 30 centimetres short of the hole, took a hop and disappeared.
asserted
ball → land → hop
“You make those jokes all the time but for it to then happen, it was pretty surreal,” Clelland said.
asserted
Clelland → make → jokes
“As soon as I hit it, I called to the group, ‘be good’.
asserted
I → hit → group
“The adrenaline going through my body was stupid.
asserted
adrenaline → go → body
“I was literally shaking.
asserted
I → shake → ?
I could barely stand over the ball on the 18th tee.
uncertain
I → stand → tee
I never get nervous playing golf.”
asserted
I → get → golf
Clelland’s achievement belongs in the company of some of golf’s most extraordinary statistical feats.
asserted
achievement → belong → feats
In 2024, American Frank Bensel Jr made back-to-back holes-in-one during the US Senior Open in Rhode Island.
asserted
Jr → make → Island
In 2018, teenage golfer Conor Kelly reportedly achieved the reverse of Clelland’s feat, making an ace on a par three before holing his second shot on the following par five.
uncertain
Kelly → achieve → par
Meanwhile, Irishman Rowan McCarthy, playing off a handicap of 20, made a hole in one on the 12th at Wembley Golf Course in Perth in 2022 before recording an albatross on the 15th hole.
asserted
McCarthy → play → hole
There have been other instances of golfer making two hole in ones in the same round.
asserted
golfer → make → round
Clelland, meanwhile, had the presence of mind to change his ball on the 18th hole, keeping the Titleist Pro V1x responsible for his two moments of magic as a souvenir.
asserted
Clelland → have → souvenir
Then came the celebrations.
asserted
celebrations → come → ?
The Scotsman headed to the Lynwood clubhouse for a few pints of Guinness, although the occasion quickly turned into an expensive afternoon.
asserted
occasion → head → afternoon
“I had to buy most people in the club a beer.
asserted
I → have → beer
There were quite a few people who came back,” Clelland said.
asserted
Clelland → be → ?
“Hole in ones you hear quite a bit.
asserted
you → hear → ones
But you very rarely hear about albatrosses.
asserted
you → hear → albatrosses
Two Guinness led to five, then led to 10 and a few more.
asserted
Guinness → lead → 10
By Sunday, his phone was still buzzing with messages from golfers struggling to comprehend what he had achieved.
asserted
he → buzz → what
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
